Shillong, April 11: While the police have arrested Papalpreet Singh who is a close associate of pro-Khalistani radical Amritpal Singh, police have come to know that both of them got separated during a police chase on March 28.
Punjab police got an input that Amritpal and Papalpreet were reported to have arrived at Gurudwara Janam Asthan Sant Baba Nidhan Singh, Nadalon village, Hoshiarpur, on March 27. The police also learnt that the duo will change locations on March 28 in the evening. When both of them managed to fool Punjab police once more, an operation was launched to nab them.
After their escape on March 18, both have frequently been spotted together in CCTV footage. Last week, two different police teams located both wanted criminals in Hoshiarpur but were unable to apprehend them.
Following information that radical leader Amritpal Singh and his supporters may be nearby, the Punjab police conducted a huge door-to-door search operation in a Hoshiarpur village on the nights of March 28 and 29. After it was thought that fugitive Amritpal and his aide might be in a vehicle, a team from the Punjab police’s counter-intelligence division chased the car in Phagwara.
In the evening of March 28, the police pursued him after receiving a tip-off, but Amritpal Singh was able to elude them in the Hoshiarpur village of Marnaian.
According to prior reports, the fugitive had returned to the Nadalon Gurudwara after fleeing in the dark. On March 29, his associate Papalpreet Singh had spent the night in Tanuli Gurudwara.